Chapter 90: Dealing with Loss
A/N: 90 chapters down! And to the guest reviewer who said this was compost worthy, thank you for that! It now has me writing harder than before, especially now since we are done with the first two seasons of DxD, and ready for what I've been building up to...The "To Kill a God" arc...
From that point, everything seemed to fast forward; his friends arriving, seeing the carnage, Katrina calling Damon to hide Comets body, and the fire engines arriving to put out the fire, all leading up to Adrian staring at the charred husk of his home, a pair of body bags heading to a pair of ambulances. As he stood on the opposite side of the street, watching, Rias and the ORC approached him,
"Adrian, I can't even begin to know how you feel-."
"My home is destroyed, my hive slaughtered, and my parents are dead...you haven't a clue how I feel!" Rias and the others were stunned by Adrians' rudeness, and simply watched as he tossed a key to Katrina, "For those of you that stayed with me, the MacGuffin penthouse will be the temporary living arrangement." Adrian began to walk away from the group, with Rias quickly trailing him,
"And where are you going?" She asked, using a tone that said she already knew his answer.
"I'm going to tear Zeus' head off and see if that kills him," Adrian said, not even looking back at his master and girlfriend. Rias grabbed Adrians' arm, stopping him,
"Adrian, I can't let you do that!" Adrian glared at the red haired she-devil.
"Can't?" He yanked his arm away from her, "Or won't?" Rias, shocked at Adrian, huffed,
"Both. I can't let you go on your own to fight Zeus because you are not strong enough, none of us are! And I won't let you go because I already lost one member of my household to him, and I am not losing another!" Adrian faced Rias, his rage at a boiling point, yet he tried to keep it under control,
"You know what, Rias? In keeping that 'other member' from avenging his family, you already lost him!" Rias took a step back, hoping she didn't hear him correctly.
"What are you trying to say?" She asked, tears starting to form in her eyes. With no regret on his face, Adrian raised up his hand, forming a familiar magic circle, which Rias recognized as her family emblem, signifying Adrian as a member of her house. Using his free hand, Adrian grabbed the magic circle, and using his Blacklight strength, crushed it like glass, shattering it before it flashed brightly and faded from view. Rias could only stare at Adrian, not believing what he had done,
"What I'm saying...is goodbye!" Adrian turned his back to Rias, walking away as she sank to her knees, the rest of the ORC rushing to her and helping her to her feet.
"Uh...did Adrian just break up with Rias?" Asked Damon, clearly confused.
"It's more than that," said Kiba, helping Akeno support a limp Rias, "he just abandoned the house! He's a stray now!" Katrina moved in front of the group, watching as Adrian walked away and out of sight,
"...I don't believe it. I refuse to believe he would just leave us!" She turned to her friends, "He just lost most of what he cares for! He's simply walking and talking out of a broken heart!"
"How would you know?" Asked Damon.
"Experience," Katrina said with a glare.
Okay, Damon mouthed, not wanting to anger the Goddess of War.
"I'm not giving up on him, how about the rest of you?" She asked. Rias looked numbly at Katrina, her heart still in pieces,
"If you go after him...can you bring him back?"
"It won't be quick, but I will drag him back if I have to," Katrina said with determination. Rias paused, and nodded her head, gently nudging Akeno and Kiba aside to let her stand on her own two feet.
"Don't try fighting him," Rias said, gaining some of her self control back, "the goal is to bring him home..."
Meanwhile...
Adrian sat on the tallest hill in Kuoh Town, facing Calvins' memorial as his tears fell freely.
"I'm sorry Calvin..." Adrian sobbed to the picture in the stone, "...I should have started the hunt for Zeus when you fell, but I didn't. Now my mom paid the price for it...I told myself when I came to this town that I wouldn't let those I care for keep dying...but they still do, no matter what I do. But now, I'm going to make Zeus pay, for what he did to you, to my mom, and everyone else he hurt along the way..."
"Kind of figured you would be up here," said Katrina, walking up behind Adrian, lightly surprising him.
"Came to kill me since I'm now a stray devil?" Adrian asked her, whipeing his eyes and clearing his throat.
"No. I was given strict orders from Rias to find you and bring you home," said Katrina.
"I can't," said Adrian, rising to his feet, "I can't go back. Not until I put Zeus in his place for what he has done. He already killed Calvin, and that was a heartbreaker. But killing my mom...that's over the fucking limit! You of all people should understand that." Adrian walked past her, causing her to turn, but quickly stopped himself, "In fact, now that I think about it, you are the Goddess of War, why didn't you try to wage war on his ass as soon as Calvins' memorial service was over?" Katrinas' look of sympathy turned to hurt, then irritation,
"I didn't go after him because I was still mourning Calvin. Why didn't you go after Zeus? Wasn't Calvin your friend?"
"He was, but you were his girlfriend, so I thought it would be more appropriate for you to spill his killers blood...but I guess I was wrong..." Katrina glared at Adrian, summoning Sektors gauntlets,
"Adrian, you went too far with that one..." Adrian morphed his arms into their Muscle Mass form,
"Actually, I haven't gone far enough..." Adrian took a swing at Katrina, only for her to casually lean back, dodging it, to which she delivered a punch to Adrians' abdomen, then his face, and finished up with an uppercut. Adrian was reeled back from the force, but quickly, almost demonically, corrected himself, and landed a left cross to Katrinas' jaw, then a right hook, a low punch to her stomach, and a knee to her face that sent her on her back. She rolled backwards away from him, bringing a hand to her face as she suffered a nose bleed. Sge rose to her feet, putting away Sektors gauntlets, and bringing forth her Blades of Exhile. Adrian did a similar move, morphing his Muscle Mass into his signature claws, and the two charged at each other with ferocity. Slashes and strikes, each being blocked, deflected or evaded, until Katrina dashed backwards, throwing her Blades at Adrian, only for him to catch them, and yank her forward, exactly like he thought she would. He held up his foot, ready to plant it on the Devil Goddess' face, but she ducked under the kick, sliding on her knees, stood back up behind him, and kicked his other leg out from under him.
Adrian moved with fluid like agility, landing on his hands and backflipping away from Katrina. The War Goddess cracked her neck, putting away her Blades, and reached for Soul Reaver, ready to use her most powerful weapon on her best friend. Adrian made his claws disappear, replacing them with his Blade, and his Sacred Gear.
"Last chance Katrina, I'm not afraid to hurt you!" Adrian warned.
"I know you're not," said Katrina, "that's why we're doing this." Adrian readied a fighting stance, as did Katrina, and once again the two charged, with Adrian taking tbe initial swipe, barely passing Katrinas' neck, and she took a downward swing at Adrians' torso, barely landing a hit. She attempted a sideswipe at his side, just barely nicking his hip, only for the hip and his clothes to regenerate. Adrian used his gear arm to grab Soul Reaver, yanking the sword from her grip, and in a flurry of furious swipes, left deep cuts on her arms, legs, abdomen, chest, even one on her face; going from the top left side of her head, down to the right side of her jaw line, with an unintentional side effect, her clothes were turned into something just above ragged ribbons. She was barely standing when Adrian brought his foot up, and landed a picture perfect roundhouse kick to her jaw, sending her flying back, slamming onto the ground, leaving scrape marks on her mostly exposed body. Adrian let his Blade disperse, approached the already downed Katrina, grabbing her by the throat, his gear arm reared back, ready to land a killing blow...
Wait, what am I doing? Adrian wondered to himself, I don't want to kill my friend! Adrian released his grip on Katrinas' throat, his rage subsiding, replaced by remorse, from losing his mother, and regret, from hurting his friend.
"...Just leave me alone..." he said to the War Goddess, turning his back on her and walking away. Before he could go far, however, a large wall of ice formed out of thin air, blocking his path. He turned around, seeing an unfamiliar man in blue, with dark hair, a beard, ice blue eyes with a scar running down right side, and hands that had ice cold steam flowing from his finger tips. He was joined by a man in a bamboo hat, whom Adrian recognized immediately, "Lord Raiden?" The Thunder God said nothing, rushing to the downed Katrina, using a lightning blue glow to heal Katrina, and even repairing her clothes, all while the man in blue, no doubt the creator of the ice wall, gave Adrian a cold glare. Raiden was soon finished, helping Katrina to her feet,
"Thank you, Lord Raiden," said Katrina with a bow, then turned to the man in blue, "Thank you, Grandmaster Sub Zero. If you two don't mind, I need a word with my friend." Raiden and Sub Zero nodded, and Katrina approached a very confused Adrian.
"Did...you lose to me on purpose?"
"I may not be as well versed as Raiden, but it's better to speak to a man in sorrow than a man in rage." Adrian nodded,
"I'm still going after Zeus," he said bluntly.
"Good," said Katrina, "because I'm going with you." Adrian blinked,
"I thought you said you had orders from Rias to bring me home?"
"I do, but she didn't say when to bring you home." Adrian glared,
"No. I'm not letting anyone else die on me." He then began to walk away, but not until Katrina shouted after him,
"You can't kill Zeus...not by yourself Adrian," said Katrina. Adrian paused, taking in what she said, and proceeded to walk away...
